AN Escape Upon The Shore

by Tiffany Hamilton

Walking down a distant hallway,

somewhere out of reach,

my mind escapes to an endless shore;

an empty sunlit beach.

My fingers trace a well-worn path

jutted deep within white walls,

but long to trail in the wind, where

the crush of calm water calls.

Somewhere ahead an echo rings;

a voice calls out my name,

but behind closed eyes where the sun is setting

everything just sounds the same.

Floating along in the chilly gloom

I hear each passing door lock,

but think only of the soaring hope

of each seagull among the flock.

And dream I do of palm trees tall

and a radiant dawn unending,

but open eyes reveal naught but

broken dreams for mending.

Yet rather than face the task

lying inescapably at hand,

why not stop, rest a moment,

and relax upon the sand?